I had a well paid but very stressful job and had become trapped by it. It made me so unhappy, and I drank a lot as my way of coping. I eventually gave up work for about 8 months to focus on recovery and it helped massively. Like MissOverIt says though, having a plan and support in place was crucial otherwise I would have just used the time to get drunk all day. I was lucky I had some savings and went to rehab for 2 months which meant the remaining 6 months not working I had the tools, knowledge and aftercare support to get through. Foolishly after 8 months I was feeling great, strong, grounded and sober and returned to the same type of work and within 6 weeks found myself exhausted, depressed, stressed and in real danger of relapsing. I quit. Now I have a more stable job, better hours less stress and half the pay I used to earn but it does mean I can manage my recovery much better.
Don’t put pride before your recovery. I get how hard it is to go on benefits, but like you say you’ve paid into it for years and there is no shame in taking a little back to get yourself well. x